The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

Traditional footwear for Plains Indian women is usually either boots or a combination of moccasins and leggings. Lakota women commonly wore the latter. The moccasins are characteristically made with a hard rawhide sole and a bifurcated tongue; these are often extensively decorated with lazy stitch beadwork in geometric designs on a white background. Leggings offered additional protection and a sense of modesty. In contrast to Lakota women, many Kiowa women traditionally wear knee-high boots, decorated with much less beadwork than the Lakota moccasins and employing a different approach to color. Kiowa beadwork commonly uses different beaded designs on each toe, and the boots are further ornamented by metal studs and by paint on the unbeaded surface.

Plains Indian people traditionally used porcupine quills to decorate clothing and other items. As glass beads introduced by traders became more and more available, the use of porcupine quills gradually declined, though it never stopped completely.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

In addition to being useful containers, tobacco bags were worn as clothing accessories by Plains Indian men. They were carried in the hand, with the body of the bag and the fringe allowed to hang freely. These bags were made from tanned leather, cut and sewn into a rectangular shape with an opening at the top. The decoration, either beaded or quilled, is usually made up of a rectangular or square panel at the bottom of the bag, with additional beadwork in strips or as accents extending up the sides and around the top. The designs frequently differ from one side to the other.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection. Collected: Elizabeth Cole Butler

By 1900 bandolier bags were considered mostly decorative, to be brought out on important occasions. Chippewa bags of the early twentieth century, such as this one, are often decorated with beadwork applied directly to the cloth in an overlay stitch rather than being woven on a loom. The large panel is beaded with an asymmetrical floral design on a solid white background. Above the large panel a second area is beaded in floral designs without a background. The strap is fully beaded, again with a floral design on a solid white background. This design includes a wild variety of abstract and stylized leaves attached to vines, with a clear emphasis on asymmetry between the elements on each side of the strap.